Cohousing-L Mailing List: Building Community (Was the failure of cohousing in the united states)

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Nov 16, 2004, at 10:26 AM, Carol Burrell wrote:

> The issue of
> affordable cohousing is a real concern. [snip] I'd be sad to give up my
> garden for an apartment, but finding the right community could
> counterbalance dreams of living around a verdant village square.

Apartment style cohousing is much more affordable than single household 
units, not only to build but to operate. We have a person in a one 
bedroom with a den whose monthly electric bill ranges from $8-9 -- that 
includes heating and cooling but not a washer and dryer for one person 
who works outside her home all day. We also have all the opportunities 
for gardening that I would hope anyone would want. There is always 
something to be done here plus we have several publicly maintained 
gardens within a few blocks.

But the price of real estate in DC has skyrocketed. I bought my 
2-bedroom, 1 bath unit for $124,000 five years ago and it would assess 
today at close to double that, partly because of the extensive common 
facilities -- like gardens. A commonhouse is expensive.

>  I mused on trying to rush
> together a cohousing group to snap them all up and convert the
> neighbourhood... but, of course, a cohousing community can't be 
> created in
> a wild rush.)

Read Superbia! It is a very nice book on what you can do starting with 
where you live now. As wonderful as cohousing seems, it is hard from 
start to finish. The idea of instant community is wonderful in some 
ways but a total illusion in others. Moving to an already established 
cohousing community is expensive because you are paying for all the 
hard work that went into the community in the first place. And building 
one is incredibly time consuming.

While building a whole new community is a wonderful utopian idea and a 
wonderful experience as well, I think many people could do the same 
thing in their own neighborhoods. Superbia! gives 31 things to do to 
build a community where you are now. That's what cohousers have to do 
once they move in. The architecture and community design may help but 
in the end I've seen many apartment buildings that are not dissimilar 
to our complex.

> What other communities offer cohousing that is lower cost than the 
> homes
> in their surrounding neighbourhoods, rather than higher cost? Which
> communities are working toward making home- and community-ownership 
> less
> onerous than remaining in the usual lifestyle? Are there any websites 
> or
> resources dedicated specifically to this aspect?

The nature of markets is that there will never be a home that costs 
less than the surrounding homes unless it is subsidized and controlled 
to produce lower prices. That usually means limited to certain kinds of 
people as well so you never have diversity. Unless people chose to live 
well within their means, instead of at the top of it, they will 
continue to choose the most expensive home they can afford. And this in 
turn drives up prices.

You can get your foot in where you can, and build your community from 
there. Many of our residents took two years to relocate to our 
community -- changing jobs to do so. But you move for the commitment, 
not the fact, of community. First you commit and you can do that 
anywhere.

I mentioned a few weeks ago my newsletter on developing community in 
coops, condos, and other neighborhoods. I've set up a yahoogroups list 
for this group. To subscribe send a blank message to:

buildingcommuntynewsletter-subscribe [at] yahoogroups.com

We will be discussing ways to build community where you are. The 
newsletter will begin in January and I'm offering trial subscriptions 
at $25 (regularly $48). This includes permission to make 5 copies of 
the newsletter for other members of your community.

This is no way a replacement for cohousing-l or the cohousing 
publications and associations, just an extension.

Sharon
---
Sharon Villines, Editor and Publisher
Building Community: A Newsletter on Coops, Condos, Cohousing, and Other 
New Neighborhoods